


Among the Stars

by literallyfitemeh



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/F, M/M, Space Gays, The Klance is more in the background tbh, though it is still very sweet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-06-13 02:00:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 14,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15353736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literallyfitemeh/pseuds/literallyfitemeh
Summary: Reader-chan is an escapee from the Galra. She ends up getting saved by team Voltron and catches the eye of a certain brassy-haired paladin. Drama ensues.Or...In which space gays always seem to find each other.





	1. The Tedious Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> (y/n) = Your name. Good? Good.

You lay on the metal floor, your head dizzy from what just occurred. Memories of the last couple months seem to leave you, not like it was any different from usual. But yet, a few painful memories were still within your grasp. Having no choice, you recounted them, the days you hurt them, the days you led them, the escape, the--

 

You winced at the wound on your side. No more remembering, not right now. You lifted your hand from the wound. _I think my insides became my outsides._ You blacked out immediately.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Hey there, sleepy head.”

 

Your eyes shot open as you stumbled forward. Behind you was this capsule thing, probably not Galtean. You felt your side, shocked to see it completely healed. Looking around you, you saw a group of strangers in armor. One of them was standing close, a little too close.

 

“Who are you people and where am I?” you demanded. You surveyed the surrounding area for possible weapons. You were _not_ getting imprisoned again.

 

The guy too close to you started laughing. “We’re your rescuers, honey. We couldn’t leave someone as pretty as you on that nasty ship.” He slid his arm over your shoulder. “Now what do you say we-”

 

Before he could finish, you grabbed his arm and flipped him over, pinning him down beneath your foot. You pulled his arm tighter as you looked at the rest of them. Scared are they? Good.

 

“Answers. Now.”

 

“Whoa, chill out. We’re your friends,” a guy in black armour said cautiously, “Now if you wouldn’t mind, would you let my buddy go?” Another person in red armour laughed.

 

“Shiro, don’t you think Lance kinda deserves it after all this time?”

 

“Keith, that’s not the point.”

 

Another guy in yellow interjected, “Yeah, he had it coming.”

 

“Hunk, not you, too.”

 

“I’m just saying.”

 

The three of them went back and forth and you attempted to follow the conversation.

 

“The mermaids even got sick of him,” Hunk said. Allura nodded behind him. Shiro facepalmed at the inane conversation.

 

“Guys!” Shiro shouted, “Aren’t you forgetting something?” He gestured towards you, still sitting on top of Lance.

 

“Oh no, do keep going. I’m rather comfortable,” you said snarkily. You noticed a smaller figure in the corner that was tapping wildly at a laptop, but your attention was again taken by Shiro.

 

“Look,” he sighed, “I’m happy to explain everything to you, but you should probably let Lance go. At least for now. Aren’t you getting a little hungry?”

 

Your stomach growled in agreeance, causing you to put your hand on it. Reluctantly, you got off of Lance; of whom was slightly unconscious from the whole ordeal. You followed Shiro to the kitchen whilst looking at the girl typing in the corner.

 

_I guess this couldn’t be so bad._

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Wait, Hunk landed in what?” you said, laughing at the table.

 

“Guys, come on,” Hunk complained. You were eating with the Paladins, which was loads better than what you were used to. Not that what you’re used to was that great in the first place.

 

“So, what’s the story of (y/n)?” Coran asked, “How does a girl like you end up out here in space?”

 

“Coran, rude,” Allura scolded. You chuckled a little.

 

“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind,” you started, “I was visiting a….a friend of mine who’s dad owns a private space exploration company. Someway or another, she was able to convince her dad to let me test out one of their ships. It was brand new, top of the line engineering and a lifetime’s worth of research put into it. Launching into space was fine, but I was supposed to come back after a trip around the Earth. They didn’t know how long the ship would be able to last. I got a little cocky and strayed a little farther than I should have. Lucky me was stuck without any fuel or way to get back before a Galra ship picked me up and…..well, I think you can guess the rest.”

 

Silence struck the table for a few moments.

 

“Wait, you’re a pilot?” Keith asked, slightly shocked. You nodded.

 

“Top of my class. Skipped a couple years, but I was just about to join a battle squadron before I got sucked up into this mess,” you said. Everyone looked at you in awe.

 

“Might have to race you one of these days, see what you got,” Lance said with bravado.

 

“I look forward to absolutely destroying you,” you laughed, “Welp, I’m off to bed. See yall in the morning.”

 

“I’ll walk you to your room,” Allura said, joining you as you left the room. The two of you walked in silence down the winding corridors.

 

“Hey Allura,” you started. Her ears perked up and she turned to face you, “Who was that other girl in the green armour? The one that was abusing that keyboard.”

 

Allura laughed, “Oh, that’s Pidge. You’ll usually find her running an experiment on some substance or writing some new program. Why do you ask?”

 

“No reason,” you said nonchalantly, “It’s just… she seemed kinda stressed out.”

 

“Oh, well…” Allura started, “She’s been searching for her family for a very long time. She got her hopes up when she heard of a human leading an escape from a Galra prison, but when we got there- I...I mean.” Allura turned red and started stammering.

 

“When you got there you had to deal with my sorry butt,” you sighed, “It’s fine, I get it. I would be disappointed too.” Allura looked at you with the word ‘sorry’ emanating from her eyes. After a painful couple of minutes, the two of you finally reached your new room, the one Coran had helped you pick out after lunch.

 

“I wish you a good night’s sleep,” Allura said, waving goodbye. You nodded and headed in.

 

The room was small, with a small shelf next to the bed. On the shelf lay your swords resting in their sheaths, which Lance had (begrudgingly) returned to you. Next to the shelf was a neat stack of clothing Allura had picked out for you, seeing as all you had was the Galran prisoner uniform. It was a sweet gesture, but you weren’t especially into the long flowy dresses. Not now, at least. You threw off your borrowed jacket and collapsed into the bed. Your last fleeting thoughts of what you could do to prove yourself useful so they wouldn’t drop you off at Earth at their next possible chance. And maybe a little about the cute girl you saw. Just a smidgen.


	2. The Fight and Beyond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (y/n)= Your name. Good? Good.

“Hit me with your best shot, nerd,” you taunted Keith. Somehow, you managed to get him to fight you. The two of you stood in the training room, fully clothed in armour. You were lucky enough to nag a spare suit lying around.

 

“Is it too late to say ‘I don’t hit girls’?” Keith asked tiredly. You evilly shook your head ‘no’. He  
groaned and then got into a battle stance. Lance walked in the middle of you two and blew a whistle.

 

“Okay, I want a clean fight. No biting, scratching, or crying. The first person to say ‘uncle’ loses. And please, keep the death to a minimum, okay? All right. You both start when I blow this whistle,” Lance gestured to the one in his hand.

 

“One.”

 

You tightened your grip on your dual swords.

 

“Two.”

 

You saw a glint of determination in Keith’s eyes.

 

“Tweeeet.”

 

Keith took the first swing, as expected. You dodged it effortlessly and spun around, landing a blow to his back. Catching him off guard, he swung his sword around, attempting to return the blow. Deftly, you blocked his attack and attempted to kick his legs out from under him.

 

“You got some skills,” you say as Keith avoids your kick. He jabs at you before speaking.

 

“You haven’t seen nothing yet.”

 

He charged at you, only for him to barely miss you and run up a wall, backflipping to where you stood, slightly confused. You managed to roll out of the way, but the surprise left you slightly bedraggled. Keith used this to his advantage to land a few hits to your stomach.

 

Quickly, you regained your composure. Copying Keith’s move, you falsely charged at him, only to slide under his legs and ram the hilt of one of your swords into his back. He stumbled forward and you launched yourself on top of him. He was pinned down and you held a sword threateningly at his throat.

 

“Have I seen everything yet?” you asked facetiously.

 

Lance blew his whistle and you released Keith, hopping off of him and walking towards where you had set down a water bottle.

 

You took a couple big gulps and watched as Lance slung an arm around Keith, suspectedly to chastise him for getting beaten so easily.

 

“Those two better get together soon, or else I’ll have to give Hunk $5,” A new voice said right next to you. You jumped slightly before immediately recognizing the brunette beside you.

 

“Do those two have a thing or something?” you asked, acting like you didn’t jump five feet in the air.

 

“I guess you could say that,” she turned around and stuck out a hand, “I’m Pidge, by the way.”

 

“(yn),” you said while taking her hand and shaking it. You smiled at her before Keith started spouting something about a rematch.

 

“Just one more round, if anything, you could use the practice,” he asked.

 

“Me? Needing practice?” you asked with fake offense, “I’m hurt, truly.” Keith rolled his eyes at you.

 

“I think I’ll have to take you up on that offer later, I’m gonna go get some space grub,” you said. You waved goodbye as you left the practice area and headed down the hallways, hoping that you wouldn’t get lost.

 

Miraculously, you found your way to the kitchen where Hunk was trying out a new recipe.

 

“Oh, (y/n)!” he said, taking a pan out of an oven, “You’re just in time to try this. I call them, Space Dogs.” He stuck a small green hotdog looking thing with a toothpick and handed it to you. You stared at it for a moment but finally decided to take a small nibble. Your eyes widened, surprised at the amount of flavour it had.

 

“Wow, this is amazing,” you said. You popped the rest in your mouth and reached for more. Hunk smiled, proud that you enjoyed his creation. He swatted your hand away after a while in order to have enough for everyone. You shrugged and meandered down the hall, your face full of food.

 

Somehow, you managed to get yourself lost. Maybe walking around a strange new environment wasn’t the best idea. You were making a plan on how to survive in the cold halls when you heard some noise from a nearby room. Slowly, you approached the door as small drones started attacking you. You felt your sides for your swords, but you stupidly left them at the arena. You sighed, pulling your spare dagger from a small pocket on your back.

 

“Wait!”

 

You looked up, seeing Pidge standing there with a remote in hand. With a few deft clicks, she sent the drones back inside the room. You just stood there for a couple seconds with your knife in hand.

 

“Gonna just stand there or….?” Pidge asked, finally looking up from the remote.

 

“Uhhh”

 

You sheathed your knife and pushed your hair back. The rush of adrenaline was starting to leave you.

 

“Might I ask why I was charged by small, murderous robots?” you asked.

 

“I wanted a battalion, but at the moment they attack anything that moves. Although, I should be able to fix that relatively quickly,” Pidge said, matter of factly. You smiled at her confidence towards her abilities.

 

“Do you have anything else?”

 

“Uh, what?”

 

“Do you have any other invention-y type gadgets like that?” you inquired.

 

“Uhh, yeah. Come on in.” Pidge said, opening the door to let you inside. You walked passed her cautiously as to not get attacked by a rogue drone. Your eyes traveled across the cluttered workshop. Chemicals bubbled in a beaker next to what looked like a gun prototype. Various drone parts and tools lie scattered on a table. Toolboxes full of scraps and various necessities dotted the room. There were lines of shelves with all sorts of geeky treasures. You carefully picked up an inactive drone from the table and held it close to your face, admiring the craftsmanship.

 

“Wow, this is amazing,” you said. You looked it over once more before gently setting it down. “Back on Earth, all the tech companies would be scrambling to get their hands on you.”

 

“Heh, thanks,” Pidge said. She checked the progress on her chemical experiment while you wandered around a bit more. You were tempted to test out her various gun prototypes but didn’t want to knock over or break anything. Sadly, that wasn’t what the drones had in mind for you. The rascals somehow powered up again and started after you, and in your confusion. You ended up knocking over a shelf onto a deep-space scanner. Your eyes widened as Pidge slowly turned around to face you, her face going white as she saw the wreckage.

 

“I’m so sorry! I-um,” you stuttered. You immediately attempted to lift the shelf up back into place, finally succeeding after a few long minutes. You were gathering up everything that had fallen off the shelf, putting it back in its rightful place. You were busy tidying up while Pidge walked slowly towards the scanner that had been decimated by your accident. She stood there, her heart practically hitting the ground.

 

“Uh, Pidge? You okay?” you asked. You saw her take a deep breath and turn towards you.

 

“I think you should leave.”

 

“What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lowkey forgot to start posting these on here. whoops.


	3. The Apology

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (y/n)= Your name. Good? Good.

“Leave. Now,” she said. She looked down at the ground, gritting her teeth,

 

“I-um….”

 

“Don’t make me repeat myself again,” Pidge threatened, clenching her fists. You hesitated for a moment, but walked yourself out of the room. Halfway through the hallway, you heard a door slamming loudly behind you. You glanced back only to hear some angry yelling. Needless to say, you absconded the hell out of the hallway.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The next few days were spent trying to apologize to Pidge and having her walk out of the room anytime you so much as glanced at her. It wasn’t until she flat-out ignored you that you decided to take a break. She even refused the apology cupcakes you attempted to make. And by make you mean beg Hunk to help you create some semblance of something edible.

 

“Maybe you should just give up. When Pidge is pissed, it’s best to let it take its course,” Lance said to you as you were pouting at the table in the dining hall.

 

“Maybe, but that just doesn’t sit right with me. I mean, after I wrecked that scanner thing in her lab she--”

 

“Wait, you broke her deep-space scanner?” Hunk asked, “Oh man, you should be lucky you’re even walking.”

 

“What’s so important about a deep-space scanner? It looked pretty standard to me,” you questioned. Lance and Hunk glanced at each other before Hunk started to speak.

 

“Okay, so, you do know how Pidge has been looking for her family, right? Well, that scanner was the best shot we had of finding them. She modified it to search for all the ships that held prisoners within the past ten months and --well, it won’t exactly be easy to get up and running again,” Hunk said sympathetically, “But hey, you didn’t do it on purpose, so you have that running for you.”

 

“Great, I just ruined another person’s chance at happiness with my stupidity. Go (y/n)...” you said sarcastically. You buried your face in your arms, letting the leftover apology cupcakes near you go untouched.

 

“Look, it’s not all bad,” Lance said, his big brother instincts kicking in, “You tried to apologize, and Pidge will recognize that. Probably after her reign of rage and terror, though.”

 

You halfheartedly smiled at him. If anything, the attempts to apologize to Pidge have allowed you to become friends with the rest of the Paladins.

“Hey, Hunk,” Pidge said, walking in the room. Her expression darkened when she saw you in the room, “Uh, nevermind. I’ll catch you later.” She immediately turned around and walked back out.

 

“Pidge, wait!” You ran after her. Enough was enough, this needs to be resolved.

 

“Don’t you get it? Leave me alone!” Pidge yelled. She turned to face you. Her face was turning slightly pink with rage.

 

“I just want to make it up to you!” you said, slightly panting, “I know what it’s like to search for someone you’ve lost, and--and I would do anything just to help you and make it up to you.”

 

“What could you do?” Pidge asked, almost mockingly.

 

“Data recovery,” you said, “If there’s anyone that could retrieve something from a smashed memory storage thing-a-mi-jig you have, it’s me.”

 

“I could do that myself,” she said coldly as she turned around.

 

“No, wait,” you grabbed her arm, “At the very least, it’ll save you a little time so you can fix up the scanner.”

 

She glanced at your hand and rolled her eyes.

 

“Fine,” she sighed, “But if you so much as nudge something out of place, I will set my drones on you.”

 

“Deal,” you said, releasing her arm, “and thanks for giving me a second chance.”

 

“Don’t make me regret it,” Pidge said, turning around and walking off. You could have sworn you saw a hint of a smirk on her face, but you figured it was just your imagination. You headed back into the kitchen with a victorious smile on your face, ready to bring on the remains of whatever’s left of that scanner.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Why is there a dancing Pidge head on my screen?” you asked. It’s been a few days since Pidge let you help her and most of that time was spent in her workshop. The first day was spent mostly in silence as you didn’t want to upset her again, but soon enough, the two of you were in a cycle of comfortable banter.

 

“Did you remember to disable the security measures?”

 

“The what now?”

 

“The secur-- oh just let me see that,” Pidge said. She pushed your chair aside from the desk you had been residing at a started tapping rapidly at your borrowed desktop. You leaned on your hand and just stared at her placidly. It took a few moments for her to notice.

 

“Uh, what’s your deal?”

 

“Nothing. Just waiting. For a turn. At my desk,” you said with a blank expression. She rolled her eyes and scooted aside, allowing you to move back.

 

“It’s not even your desk.”

 

“The spilled coffee over there begs to differ.”

 

“You spilled your coffee?!”

 

“That’s not the point, but on the subject on alien coffee, I’m going to get some more. Care for a cup?” you asked, grabbing your long-forgotten mug.

 

“I think I’ve reached my limit of caffeine today, thanks,” Pidge said. You shrugged and headed out the hallway. Basically living in that workshop has helped you get your bearings on where everything is. And if you weren’t in the workshop, you were most definitely getting your food on in the kitchen. Space goo isn’t half bad.

 

“Yo, Hunk, care to hook me up?” you said, arriving at the kitchen door. He turned around from whatever he was doing and smiled at you, taking your cup and filling it.

 

“You do realize that the human body can only have so much coffee, right?” he questioned. You shrugged and started back to the workshop when alarms started blaring.

 

“Well that can’t be good,” you muttered.


	4. The Encounter

You ran to the workshop to check on Pidge, but she was already gone. You grabbed your swords you abandoned there for Pidge to fix up and sprinted to your room to strap on your armour. After about five minutes, you went into the control room to see Shiro and Coran there. 

 

“What’s going on?” you asked, slightly out of breath. Shiro was standing there in his armour and Coran was frantically pressing buttons.

 

“Just a little attack, the Paladins should have it cleared up pretty quickly,” Shiro said as an explosion rocked the castle, “ I ...should probably go check that out.”

 

“Need any assistance?” you asked as he was heading out of the room.

 

“I think Coran needs it more than I do,” he responded. You could hear his footsteps pounding down the hallway and turned to Coran, who looked even more flustered than ever.

 

“Um, how can I help?” you asked. Coran pointed to the console behind him.

 

“Arm the castle’s weapons and supply more power the shield,” he said, still frantically pressing buttons.

 

“Got it,” you said. The past couple days helping with Pidge had helped you get used to Altean tech. You nearly fell over a few times as the castle kept getting hit, but you managed to get things done pretty quickly After you finished, you turned on the coms to check up on everyone, which took you longer to figure out that you’d like to admit.

 

“How are things looking out there?” you asked.

 

“We’re flanked on both sides by Galra battleships. We need assistance,” Allura’s voice frantically said.

 

“Hey, where’s Shiro?” Keith asked over the com.

 

“He left a while ago to go check up on the explosions that hit the castle, but I think we have bigger problems at the moment,” you said.

 

You shot at the battleships, but the castle’s cannons did nothing to scratch the surface. Coran did nothing to advise you, not that you blamed him. He was struggling with his own problems.

 

“Um, Coran? Need any help down there?”

 

“Er, it appears that the castle’s inside defenses are down. It wasn’t that big of a deal until… we were boarded,” he said nervously.

 

“What?! Oh god, Shiro,” you said worriedly, “Okay, you take my spot, I’ll handle the problem.” You grabbed your swords you had cast aside earlier and sprinted out the same way as Shiro, ignoring Coran as he called out to you.

 

“Those paladins better hurry up and get back here,” you said to yourself. It wasn’t long until you ran into several Galran sentries. Well, this could be fun. Almost immediately, you sliced through two of them, sliding between the legs of the third. The remaining shot at you, but you managed to deflect the shots back at them. You stabbed the last one and took his gun, sheathing one of your swords.

 

You worked your way through the castle, fighting off various sentries and drones, before finally finding Shiro. He was engaged in combat with a random Galra and appeared to be quite beat up already. You ran to help him but found yourself with a blade at your throat.

 

“Well look what we found here~” a voice said from behind you. From this position, you were in no shape to turn a blade on him, unless…

 

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing in a ship like this?” the voice continued. You managed to look behind you to see the Galra holding you captive.

 

“What’s a Galra doing holding a knife to my throat?” you said, not giving an inch. The Galra only laughed and pressed the knife a little harder against you. You could feel a drop of blood roll down your neck as it nicked your skin.

 

“Well, how about I just take you to my ship? I’m sure my prisoners would love some fresh meat,” he said. He turned his head to the side, giving you a chance to catch him off guard and elbow him in the stomach. He tumbled backward, allowing you to gain the upper hand and slice through his leg, knocking him out in the process. You looked over your shoulder to see another Galra standing in fear. Slowly, you walked up to him.

 

“Boo,” you said, causing the soldier to pass out from shock. Shiro had, luckily, gained the upper hand in his fight and gently laid down a very beaten Galra.

 

You raised an eyebrow at his movements, but he only motioned for you to follow him. The two of you sliced through more sentries before you found where they had been coming from. A Galra cruiser was parked just outside the Castle’s space dock. They had blasted opened the doors and sent sentries to scout out the area, but they weren’t going to last that long. At least, not on your watch.

 

Together, you and Shiro cleared out all the sentries, and luckily for you, they weren’t sending anymore in. Unluckily for Shiro, you decided to do something insanely stupid.

 

You were gonna go conquer the ship.

 

Initially, it seemed like a great idea. You go in, guns -or rather- swords blazing and miraculously take over the ship and crash it into one of the battleships that were giving Voltron a hard time.

 

That’s not how it turned out.

 

By the grace of whatever, you managed to sneak onto the ship unnoticed with Shiro frantically following behind you. You may not have told him your plan, but hey, time’s a-wastin'.

,  
It went smoothly enough, you snuck past countless sentries and soldiers frantically running about the place and just about made it to the control room, until you saw _him_.


	5. The Bonding Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: (y/n) = your name. Good? Good.

There were a few people you could go without seeing for the rest of your life. Your estranged grandmother, that one cashier, that “friend” you had left so long ago, but this one takes the cake. It was the Galra that imprisoned you, the Galra that had made your life a living hell for way too long.

 

You were five seconds away from giving him a Columbian necktie before Shiro held you back. He motioned for you to stay back and listen in on what Commander Luthrex was saying to his lieutenant. You bit your lip and listened. He would get what’s coming for him in due time.

 

“No no no no!” he cursed to the hologram, “I ordered for the Castle of Lions to be hit, why is that not happening?!”

 

“There were some, er, complications,” A thin-looking Galra said. Even through the hologram, you could see he was shaking in his boots. “It appears that we were… unaware of the extent of its defense systems.”

 

“UNAWARE?!,” Commander Luthrex bellowed,” You told me you had information STRAIGHT from the paladins! I swear--”

 

“I believe that’s enough yelling today,” you said, driving your sword into his back. You managed to sneak past Shiro long enough to get the drop on Luthrex. He fell in front of you while the Galra he was talking to went mute. “Buh-bye.” You hung up on him and turned to Shiro, who was looking a little pissed.

 

“You should have waited, we could’ve found out more,” he said sternly.

 

“I wasn’t wanting to give that monster any more time than I had to, wouldn’t you want to kill your captor?” Shiro went white when he realized what you meant. “At any rate, I need you to go find an escape pod, and fast. I’ll pull whatever data I can find on what their mission was.”

 

“What are you--”

 

“Not important, go.” You turned your back on him and started rapidly typing. After a pause, you could hear his footsteps bounding down the hallway and let out a small sigh. You thought he would fight you harder on this. You pulled up the mission logs and downloaded them to a flash drive-looking thing you found nearby. Hopefully, you would make it back to the paladins.

 

What were you saying, of course you would make it.

 

Hopefully.

 

You grabbed the ship’s controls and veered the cruiser directly into the battleship. The ship rocked back and forth and you could feel explosions throughout the hull. You staggered back and fell, like the primadonna ballerina you were, but quickly got up. You had to find an escape pod, or you were looking at a very short lifetime floating in space.

 

Various Galra were running about, but they all ignored you as they were trying to save themselves. You dashed from hallway to hallway before finally finding one. You jumped in and managed to shut the door, shortly before the entire ship exploded.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

You don’t really remember what happened after the ship exploded. Just a really loud ringing in your ears. And arms grabbing and carrying you. And your head oh god why does it hurt so bad?

 

_Oh, wait, Shiro, was he okay? Did Voltron get caught in the explosion? Why was it so cold all a sudden? Am I dead? Where am I?_

 

“(y/n)!”

 

_Who the heck is calling me? Can they shut up?_

 

“(y/n)!”

 

“Go away, I’m dead,” you murmured. You felt someone lower you to the ground. Wait, were you standing earlier?

 

“Not on my watch,” the voice said. It was oddly comforting, like a warm fuzzy blanket on a stormy night.

 

You felt something warm pressing against you, so instinctively, you leaned against it. Every muscle in your body ached as you moved, but you desperately needed the warmth. You barely opened your eyes and noticed the immediate shade of green, then the pale skin, and then the soft, brassy hair. So naturally, you poked her in the nose.

 

“What’s up birdbrain, what’d I miss?”

 

Pidge smiled at you with a tinge of relief. You looked around at your surroundings and noticed you were inside a small spacecraft, probably the Green Lion. This was the first time that you had the honour of being in a lion, but that wasn’t what was on your mind at the moment.

 

“Hey, um, Pidge? Not that I mind, but why are you cradling me in your arms?” you said teasingly.

 

“Think of it as a bonding moment,” she said back, “Someone had to come to save your sorry butt after you took down those battleships.”

 

“I had everything under control.”

 

“Yep, totally. Especially the part where you were knocked out and rapidly losing oxygen in your escape pod.”

 

“Power nap.”

 

“Power nap, of course. Well, next time, I won’t be needing to carry you out in my arms, now will I?”

 

“Shhh, bonding moment,” you said, putting a finger in front of Pidges lips. You were still pretty beat up and within seconds you were out like a light.


	6. Sleep on Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (y/n) = your name. Good? Good.

You hated dreaming. You hated it to your core. For some strange, sadistic reason, your subconscious loves to bring up rather painful memories and puts them on repeat. You usually combated this by drinking copious amounts of caffeine, but given your current situation, that wasn’t an option.

 

“No, wait...” you murmured within the pod. Trapped inside your mind, you relived the battles in the coliseum that you were forced into. At one point, the Galra had forced you to fight against the other prisoners, threatening to kill you themselves if you refused. And so, you did. You slaughtered your way through your friends and allies, having some notion of saving yourself so you can repay your sins. Your mind was overwhelming you now, the curses of “traitor” and “monster” rung through your head. Your subconscious kept replaying scenes of you slashing through countless inmates.

 

You were so lost within your own mind you didn’t even notice when the pod opened up after it was done healing you.

 

“Wait, I-I’m sorry,” you muttered. Your breathing was getting erratic and the memories replayed in your mind. But all of the sudden, you started to fall forward, causing you to quickly wake up out of your daze.

 

With all your poise and grace, you landed on your face. Granted, you weren’t even aware you were falling until the last second, but the point still stands.

 

You picked yourself off the ground, examining your body for any bruises or scratches or anything that would indicate your last escape from death. Surprisingly, there were none. Even a few of your older scars had been healed.

 

You looked up and studied the area around you for any stray mice or frightened Alteans, but found nothing. Well, nothing but a paladin asleep at her laptop surrounded by stray coffee cups. There was something cute about Pidge when she slept, her face melted into a soft smile and she breathed in little hufts out of her nose. It was so sweet you wanted to throw something at her, say a paper ball or broken pencil.

 

Right as you were about to execute your A+ plan, you heard a tray drop and someone yell your name. Turning around, you were barely able to register the large human wrapping you up in a hug before you were getting the quiznak squeezed out of you.

 

“Hunk, air,” you gasped.

 

“Oh, sorry,” he said. He quickly released you and gave you a beaming smile. “It’s just, you were in there for a long time and--”

 

“Wait, how long?” you interrupted.

 

“Oh um, 20 quintents, roughly,” he said, “We were getting kinda worried, Pidge especially. She had to carry you into the castle herself. Around the 10th quintent she started camping out in here in case you woke up.”

 

“20--20 quintents?” you asked, almost to yourself. That explosion must’ve gotten to you pretty badly. You glanced back over at Pidge, of who was starting to stir from her sleep.

 

“Pidge was getting pretty worked up when you weren’t healing as fast as we thought you would,” Hunk said. He looked over at her before turning back to you. “You must’ve made a mark on her.”

 

You smiled softly before resuming your gaze towards Pidge. “I guess I have,” you murmured. You could feel your cheeks burning slightly when you realized Hunk was still standing there with the very definition of a shit-eating grin on his face.

 

“Oh no, don’t mind me,” he began, turning around to walk out of the room, “I’ll be off, placing some bets. You crazy kids have fun.”

 

You had half a mind to pelt him with miscellaneous objects, but you heard Pidge waking up and grumbling to yourself. You briefly considered scaring her, but that would either end up with a) you getting a broken nose or b) fire being set to everything within 50 feet.

 

“(y/n)?” Pidge said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Like the impeccable ass you were, you sauntered over to her and gave her a smile that would have made Lance proud.

 

“Miss me?”

 

Within five seconds you found yourself nearly toppled over with a Paladin squeezing the living daylights out of you. What was it with these paladins and trying to murder you?

 

“You’re horrible,” she said.

 

“Oh, is that why you camped out here with my recuperating body?” You tried to sound suave, but that was very hard to do while not being able to breathe.

 

“Shut up.”

 

“Five minutes in and you’re already sick of me. I see how it is.”

 

Pidge looked up at you from her death hug, “I miss the peace and quiet already. Fewer ships blowing up, less sarcasm, less--”

 

“Gorgeousness?” you teased.

 

“Speaking of,” she started. She took your hand and squeezed it softly before suplexing you onto the cold hard ground. “Payback.” she then strode out of the room, leaving you with a look of utter disbelief and a few probably cracked ribs. Despite the pain, you couldn’t help but feel a little fuzziness in your stomach, a feeling that you had long abandoned back on Earth.

 

You nearly had forgotten the torment your mind put you through the last couple weeks.

 

Just nearly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, looking at the quickly diminishing back log of parts: oh fu-


	7. Cows and Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically... it's crack. I'm sorry. I had fun with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (y/n)= your name. Good? Good.

You finally being healed created a stir throughout the castle and a few hugs and hair ruffles were shared. You could have sworn you saw Hunk and Lance whispering off in the corner a few times when you were going back to Pidge’s workshop, but you paid them no heed. You had a few irons in the fire, after all.

You were back onto data recovery and helping Pidge out with rebuilding her deep-space scanner. You still felt horrible for breaking it and insisted on getting it into working order. 

Among the other things you were working on in the workshop, organizing was a huge one. How could Pidge live like that? She is somewhat of a hoarder in regards to tech and most things just end up in various piles. You’ve managed to work through a solid corner, much to Pidge’s chagrin, but the mess seems to be multiplying.

 

On one of the organizing days, you decided to take a nap earlier than usual. It may have been the fact that Hunk was severely limiting your caffeine intake in favor of you actually getting some quality sleep, but who knows? You were spent. You trudged along to your room (that you somehow managed to remember the way to) and passed out as soon as your head touched the pillow. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You were sitting in a small white room with a cheap table standing in the middle of it. You didn’t have your arms restrained, but you did have a feeling that any sudden movements would result in various weapons pointed towards your head. Oh god, your head was pounding. You could almost feel the welt growing on the side of your face. A large man in a suit abruptly opened the door, letting you catch a glimpse of your surrogate family and his bodyguards standing in the hallway. 

You could hear him speaking with his low, gruff voice, but you couldn’t process what he was saying. You kept nodding along with what he was saying so you wouldn’t get a matching mark on the other side of your face. The light streaming in from the badly closed door was making your headache worse.

After what seemed like hours, two of his bodyguards from earlier came in and grabbed you by either arm, lifting you up and carrying you out of the room. Clarke was standing there in the hallway with your family. You nearly rose your head to speak, but looked away in shame. You could’ve sworn she yelled something, but every time you tried to move your head, you felt a jolt of electricity on your side. Again and again, you kept fighting, but the electricity kept getting more powerful, more painful. Your vision turned to red and you kept on fighting until--  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blackness. Your vision was entirely filled with inky, black coolness. You felt around yourself to find that you were still in your room. Your head was pounding with as much ferocity as your heart. You tried to stand up but found your legs too shaky to support yourself. You sat back down, waited for a few trembling breaths, and searched for the light.

Startling bright lights probably wasn’t the best in your situation, but hey, anything to get your mind off of things. You grabbed some clean clothes, having slept in your regular ones the night before, and stumbled over to the showers.

You may have been in a Galra prison for who knows how long, but you still had an appreciation for good hygiene, okay?

 

After you finished and donned one of your borrowed dresses (all your usual clothes needed to be washed) you headed back down the hallway and heard some hushed voices talking. Naturally, you decided to eavesdrop. 

“There’s something fishy going on and I don’t know what,” Shiro whispered to Allura, “The Galra commander that attacked the Castle a while ago said he had information directly from the paladins.” 

“I don’t see how that would be possible. The ship is heavily defended against any unknown intruders or machinery,” Allura reasoned. She spoke very gently with an almost pleading look. “Plus, there’s no way that the paladins would ever betray us.”

“It wouldn’t have to be a paladin…”

 

Allura tilted her head. “What are you saying?”

“The Galra attack came almost immediately after (y/n) came here. We never had such a large breach in the castle before. It’s the only logical conclusion.” Shiro looked away before he started again. “I know you always want to believe the best in people but--”

 

“Kaltenecker incoming!” Lance screamed. Pidge and Lance sat atop a… was that a cow? That is a cow and it is barreling right at you.

 

You ran around the corner you were previously hiding behind and prepared yourself to run if Kaltenecker decided to follow suit. Because you were the living embodiment of stupidity, it took a good minute to notice Shiro and Allura were standing right in front of you. Allura looked really red and flustered, but Shiro just looked more stone-cold than usual. You waved shyly at them before you were quickly pulled up by your collar and roughly placed on a speeding cow.

If you were a normal person, you would probably be screaming and questioning as to why you were suddenly on a cow with two other people, but this was Pidge and Lance. Without Hunk, the Mom Friend™, supervising, these two will wreak as much damage as possible. 

“YEEHAW MOTHER--”

“Pidge!”

“CLUCKER.” 

Okay, this was hilarious. The three of you rampaged throughout the castle and managed to give both Coran and Hunk heart attacks. Keith looked a little more exasperated than usual when Kaltenecker dramatically knocked down the door to the kitchen. 

“I could have dropped my croissant,” Keith exclaimed, which sent you and Pidge into another fit of laughter. Lance just started beaming with pride. I taught him that Kaltenecker promptly outied the hell out of there and continued his stampede.

Eventually, Kaltenecker headed back home into his pasture. How did he know the way? No clue. It was best not to ask.

“Holy Batman, “ you wheezed. You and Pidge were lying on the ground laughing while Lance made sure Kaltenecker was situated. “That was exactly what I needed today.”

“Me too,” Pidge said. The laughing ceased into a comfortable silence. Kaltenecker mooed contently in the background. It seemed that Lance wanted to milk her before he headed back.

“Hey, what’s with the dress?” Pidge asked. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked at you.

“An hour riding a cow that I still have no idea who put me on, and you now notice?”

“You didn’t answer my question.” “I was too lazy for laundry,” you stated. You stuck your leg in the air and smirked at her. “But it’s cute, no?”

“It is a piece of cloth,” she said, matching your deadpan voice from before. You gasped in shock offense and threw a flower at her face. “I never said no…” She said, tossing it back. You chuckled and leaned your head back against the soft grass. Today was a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof wow I'm really bad at remembering to update I'm sorry.


	8. Gay Struggle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader-chan is basically having a Gay Life Crisis what do you mean I'm projecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (y/n)= Your name. Good? Good.

Ever since the cow incident, you and Pidge seemed to be haphazardly floating around each other. Sure, your usual banter never ceased, but there were some moments that just seemed...strange.

 

A late night run to the kitchen turned into a food goo fight that ended with you smashing a lob of it into Pidge’s face. You may or may not have held her face a little bit too long after that. She may or may not have turned away from you, blushing. The two of you may or may not have gathered your food and walked in silence, too awkward to say anything.

 

One day when you were helping her with some routine maintenance around the castle, you were just casually handing her various tools and fetching things while she Did the Stuff™. Except when you gave her a screwdriver and your fingertips grazed for just a little bit too long. Cue to you blushing and stuttering as you stumbled away, claiming you had something to do in the training room. That night involved a lot of screaming and rambling as Lance patted you on the back. (Turns out, both of you had a lot of feels to talk out. Also, you were probably gonna cash in on a bet soon.)

 

Another night, you challenged her to a fight. When she refused, you made it your life’s goal to startle her until she agreed. Of course, that ended up with various injuries, such as miscellaneous tools and tech to the face, singed eyebrows, and a very close call with her bayard. The one that really took the cake is when you leaped on her back. Usually, this would end with the ridee spinning around with the rider on their back trying to get them off, but you miscalculated.

 

You miscalculated by a lot.

 

As it turns out, Pidge does not have that much upper body strength when it comes to things magically appearing on her back. Pidge, in fact, tends to fall over whenever she is forced to carry something (or someone) that weighs more than her.

 

You were really not aware of this.

 

So there you were, hovering over Pidge as the two of you stared at each other in utter disbelief. That is, until the two of you started cracking up. You rolled over to her side and pushed yourself up, still chuckling. You offered Pidge a hand and pulled her up beside you and didn’t let go.

 

The two of you stopped laughing and just sat there, smiling shyly at each other. You, being the impulsive shit you are, moved your other hand to Pidge’s cheek and cupped it.

 

“Your smile is going to kill me one of these days,” you murmured, softly stroking your thumb across her cheek. Pidge gave you a little smirk and tilted her head, almost nuzzling into your hand.

 

“I have a couple things I want to do before that,” she said back. The gold flecks in her brown eyes seemed almost glowing as she gazed at you. It was _Pidge_ that finally leaned in and closed the space between you. Her lips brushed yours gently until you pulled her into you. Her lips were chapped and her knee was digging into your side, but Pidge, the very cute and nerdy Pidge, was practically in your lap kissing you. She tilted her chin up and nipped softly at your lips. You sighed and melted into her arms, trying to pull her closer. She smirked against your lips and deepened the kiss, catching the whine in the back of your throat.

 

Eventually, the two of you broke apart for air. Your bottom lip was slightly pink and swollen from abuse. Pidge ran her thumb across it, giving it one last bite before turning her attention towards your neck.

 

“I just, wow.” You stuttered, trying to convey some semblance of thought, but gave up after Pidge started placing feather-light kisses on your jawline. You let out a happy little sigh that you know made Pidge smirk against your skin. She scraped her teeth across your neck while snickering quietly. And of course, you couldn’t let her have the satisfaction. Your hands slowly drew up to her ribcage in preparation of assault.

 

“Egotistical little jerk, why I oughta--”

 

“Pidge! Step away from (y/n)!” Shiro yelled from the doorway. The rest of the paladins stood behind him, weapons drawn and pointed at you. You and Pidge froze, her lips still resting behind your ear.

 

“I-- u--what?” You stared at them in disbelief and looked over at Pidge. She just stared back at you, falling over herself in order to get away from you. Your entire being shattered when you saw that hurt look on her face.

 

“Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on?” you nearly yelled. Your heart was pounding as you raised your hands in surrender.

 

“How about you tell us what is going on?” Keith said. You looked over at Lance and Hunk, but they just looked away in shame.

 

“Uh, I kissed Pidge? Is this what this is about?” You could feel the blood rising to your cheeks.

 

“You what? No! This is-- you betrayed Voltron!” Shiro said. He started blushing slightly. “That Galra you killed a while back said it had information straight from the paladins. You offed him before he could say anything else. Allura and Coran double checked the systems and there was no sign of a breach. There is no way any of us would leak information to the Galra, so the only possible reason is you.”

 

“He--what? Why would I betray Voltron? Why-- Pidge back me up here!” you said, reaching out for her. She only backed farther away from you, her gaze turning cold and calculating.

 

“That’s why you always helped me out with maintenance, so you could see how the castle works-- how to take it down.” She stared at the ground, her eyes dark and her hair shielding her face. “That’s why you helped me with the scanner, so the Galra could use the tech to track us down.”

 

“No!--Pidge, I -- I would never--” The ground started swaying and the walls seemed to be closing in.

 

“That’s why you took an interest in me, to use me against my friends.” She stood up, walking slowly towards you.

 

“Pidge…” you pleaded, taking a step back.

 

“(y/n)," Pidge started, enunciating carefully, "You will never use me again” She summoned her bayard and strode closer to you.

 

"Don't make me do this," you said as your back hit the wall. Your eyes started welling up with tears.

 

"What's the point?" Pidge brokenly laughed, "You already made me."

 

Pidge attacked you first, her bayard coming in hot for your face. You ducked under her arm, grabbing her bayard and pinning her against the wall.

 

"I'm sorry," you said to her, tears hot on your face. She weakly shouted and clawed, trying to get back at you.

 

Shiro ran towards you, his arm glowing as he tried to strike you. Casting the bayard aside, you charged after him as well. You (mostly) dodged his strikes and landed a kick to his back that sent him sprawling to the wall. You winced after hearing a hard crack as his head came in contact with the metal interior.

 

Next were Keith and Lance, who tag-teamed you. Meanwhile, Hunk was busy making sure Shiro and Pidge were okay. You grabbed the dagger that you knew Keith always had on his back and sparred against him, meeting his sword hit for hit. Lance kept firing shots at you that you (admittedly) barely managed to miss.

 

You gasped in pain as a laser hit the side of your thigh. It tore through your armor and burned your skin. You staggered for a split second too long as Keith’s sword made a shallow cut on your arm. You needed to end this. Fast.

 

"I'm sorry, Keith," you said, stabbing him right above the hip. He crumpled beneath you while Lance and Hunk shrieked. Lance came running straight towards you, ready to pummel you.

 

"Wait!" you said, stopping him in his tracks. Lance looked at you suspiciously, refusing to lower his gun. "Keith needs to go to the pods immediately, that isn't worth going after me." You looked over at Hunk, who was already aiming his gun at you. "Shiro needs to head to the pods too, Pidge will be fine.” Hunk looked back at Shiro and turned to Lance.

 

"I didn't betray Voltron, no matter what you think," you started, setting Keith’s dagger down and backing away slowly, getting ready to run out the door, "I most certainly didn't use Pidge, or -- or any of you, but --"

 

"Just go," Pidge said, trying to raise herself up. You felt an enormous pang of guilt in your heart knowing that you did that to her.

 

"Pidge-- I--"

 

"Go!" she yelled at you. You looked back at all the paladins, and then you took off running

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sorry


	9. The Expanse of Space (and Gays)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay so like, yall were expecting this to be a fluffy series. Nope. Sorry. We're gonna have a lil heartbreak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: (y/n)=your name. Good? Good.

It was no wonder when you grabbed your swords from the hall. You stashed them there in preparation when you were attempting to get Pidge to fight you. They had seen you through the Galra and you were not about to leave them behind.

 

You headed to the hangar and grabbed the nearest pod. It already was loaded and fueled, much to your surprise. Then suddenly, you realized it was the one you and Pidge were gonna take on a supply run to a nearby planet, and you just felt worse. Your own laments aside, it took you practically no time until you were out of the ship and speeding away. There was always a chance that the paladins would chase after you, but you somehow knew they wouldn’t.

 

You were once more floating in the middle of space.

 

Alone.

 

Once again directionless after running away from your problems.

 

Once again running away from the light of your life.

 

Once again wishing they would have left you where they found you.

 

You really have a habit of repeating traumatic events.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Two Vargas, three doboshes, and forty-seven ticks since (y/n) left the castle.

 

Well, Pidge wouldn’t say “left”. More like “chased away.” By her. Mainly.

 

Her teammates have a lot to answer for, but not until Keith gets out of the pods. (Y/n) managed to stab Keith without hitting anything important. Barely.

 

Pidge only had a few bruises here and there. Lance and Hunk made it out unscathed. Well, at least physically. Lance had been freaking out about Keith ever since he was put in the pod. Yeah, Pidge was definitely winning the bet with Hunk.

 

Allura and Shiro were seriously discussing some things in the corner, but Pidge paid them no heed.

 

She really hoped that (y/n) was okay out there. 

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

You were not okay out here.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Three Vargas, forty-one doboshes, and twenty-seven ticks since (y/n) was chased out of the castle.

 

Shiro is out of the pod. He only had a concussion that needed to be dealt with. Keith is going to be healing for three more days. Alive, but with a nasty scar. Hunk is trying to get Lance to sleep by coaxing him to his room with treats.

 

Pidge has been fiddling with a junky communications device for the past Varga, not really sure what she was trying to accomplish.

 

She put a hand to her lips, thinking back on what had happened earlier.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It really wasn’t a good idea to run off into space with an injured leg. Since it was a laser that hit you, there wasn’t much blood, but it still hurt horribly. The cut on your arm was deep enough to warrant some stitches. Luckily, there was first aid kit on the ship.

 

Yay, stabbing yourself numerous times.

 

You desperately wanted to go back.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Five vargas, twenty doboshes, and forty-three ticks since (y/n) ran away.

 

The communications device ended up turning into a taser gun. A perfect tool for your common, heartbroken teen.

 

Pidge just used it to blast at the trash around her workshop. Really, she was supposed to be sleeping, Hunk’s orders, but she couldn’t. Usually, Pidge and (y/n) would poke at each other or ruffle one another’s hair until they finally went to their bedrooms. Without that…

 

Nope not thinking about that. (y/n) betrayed Voltron, her adoptive family. She would do it all over again if it meant protecting them.

 

Pidge continued blasting, not really aiming for anything in particular. The wall ended up getting a few nicks here and there, but the shots were unrelenting.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Okay, a few stitches weren’t the worst thing in the world.

 

You lied.

 

Stitches without painkiller are probably worse than getting stabbed in the first place. You’re assuming you did an okay job on the basis that you do not want to go through that again.

 

You weren’t sure where you wanted to go. There was nothing waiting for you back on Earth. There was always that planet you were planning on going to grab supplies from or the rebellion against the Galra.

 

Who knows? You could always join a space circus, pursue a life on the slightly illegal side, and seduce countless aliens along the way. Ones with brassy hair. And rich, earthy eyes. And freckles across their nose.

 

You looked out into the great expanse of space and pulled your knees to your chest, wincing slightly as you accidentally grazed your wound.

 

You were truly alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so like, I was literally thinking about quitting this project. IDK dude, just a huge wave of de-motivation. Then suddenly, a bunch of people started commenting on my shit??? (Not just this fic) Like wow, guys!!! Thanks???? I--uh. I hope that you have enjoyed spending your time reading this fic to ignore the dark expanse of life and all of its responsibilities, cause i really enjoy reading yalls comments.


	10. The Pining Drain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst. I apologize. y/n= your name, as usual. It ain't hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I haven't updated in years and I apologize. Play rehearsal and sports and a huge courseload have kicked my ass.

The next few days at the castle go by in a haze. Pidge wakes up, does what she’s assigned, goes through the mind-numbing cleaning routine throughout the castle, and goes to bed. One could say she was grieving, not that she would admit it. Hunk practically had to force feed her. During team training, she moved like she was carrying weights and ran off as soon as it was done.

 

It would be safe to say that Pidge was a lot lonelier now that (y/n) left. She typically spent most of her time in solitude, save for the occasional Team Punk Coding Throwdowns. Pidge never liked working around people. Too noisy, too incompetent, too… wrong. It took several months at the Garrison and being blasted into space before Pidge has started warming up to Lance and Hunk.

 

(y/n) just… fit. Like a piece of the puzzle that she never knew she was missing before. Pidge felt, empty without (y/n) here. Almost incomplete. It was akin to losing her brother. Okay, not her brother. There were certain things Pidge wanted to do with (y/n) that extended farther than siblinghood.

 

Wait, nope. Nuh-uh.

 

That-- this-- was not happening. (Y/n) was a traitor and sent Keith and Shiro to the healing pods. She was a liar. A manipulator. A really good kisser. A really great specimen of beauty. A--

 

Okay, once more down the pining train. Or pining drain. Straight into the trash compactor.

 

Pidge pulled the hood from her oversized jacket (borrowed from (y/n)) over her head, blushing furiously. She sat in the main living room (or whatever the Alteans called it), moping in the darkness. Pidge never got a full night’s worth of sleep. That was just how she was. Regardless, that time was usually spent building robots and developing new software. Now, she just couldn’t focus anymore.

 

Those last moments with (y/n) endlessly swirled in her brain. Pidge had been so sure that she was making a good decision, that her feelings were returned, that someone just finally got her and who she was.

 

And she was wrong.

 

And so, she sat.

 

Alone.

 

In (y/n)’s hoodie.

 

Pidge let out a large sigh, letting herself sprawl out on the couch.

 

She was royally fucked.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It seems that pods are only equipped to last a few days. Maybe longer if there were fewer passengers. Regardless, you couldn’t stay in the pod forever. A few days ago, you set the autopilot to head to Aeirst, a trading post that had escaped Galran rule. You could’ve gotten there faster, had you actually increased the speed or drove yourself, but no.

 

It was traumatic flashback time.

 

Being back in a ship, alone, in the large expanse of space definitely brought back some memories.

 

Like when you were starving.

 

Like when the only noise was the sound of your own breath.

 

Like when the Galra ship abducting you was both your saving grace and worst nightmare.

 

Like when you left Clarke for the last time.

 

Clarke.

 

Clarke had been your shining light amidst the corruption and bullying of school. Earhart Academy was a sister school to the Garrison with less of the prestige and more of the drills and the indoctrination.

 

Having skipped a couple of grades, you had been a target for harassment. Clarke was the person that patched your wounds, her presence never wavering by your side.

 

But all it took was step out of place, one careless word for everything to get thrown out the window.

 

Okay, so here’s the scene. A young, little (y/n) was pointing out the disparities between the footage of a recent spaceship crash and the memo that covered it. An officer overheard it and forcibly led you to a room for questioning. Well, except that the questioning never happened. Just a beating. And being told what to think and say going forward. And getting your head half-bashed in when you could barely reply.

 

As far as your family knew, you had gotten into a fight with a high-ranking officer.

You think that was the moment that set everything else about this mess in motion.

 

The whole mess of touring Clarke’s family’s company, trying out a new ship, straying off course, and of course, being abducted by the Galra.

 

But the Galra didn’t come immediately. No, you had been floating in space for a few days before that. It was just you, the stars, a dwindling food supply, and hours upon hours of silence. Hours in the darkness, thinking the budding relationships and life you had left behind.

 

Even with the fighting in the Galra prison, being alone those days were really the worst part of this ordeal. As horrible as it was to say, at least you weren’t alone at the prison. Your fellow inmates came and went, but there was always someone to talk to. Always someone who could help. You truly thought you would die out in the great expanse of space with no one by your side.

 

You looked out of the window in your pod, the stars still twinkling as bright as ever.

 

Well, you still might.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I apologize. I was typing out a thousand words a day for that Klancetober thing (which I have neglected since... day eight. But hey, check out what I do have done I feel pretty good about it.) After play rehearsal hit and classes started buckling down I was just. so. tired. Still kinda am, but I get out a little earlier after swim practice now. Please bear with me as I pound on my keyboard and attempt to make a decent story.
> 
> Did I mention Klancetober? Check... check that fic out. I'm probably gonna update that sporadically but it's mainly a bunch of fluffy one-shots. (And slightly more well-written than my past stuff.)


	11. The Destruction of Angsty Teens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Motherfuckin' Galra.  
> Now with Rebel forces!  
> (Vegan)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had half of this sitting in my drive for months. I'm great at time management.

It was not the frantic beeping that woke you up. Nor was it the flashing lights warning of an incoming ship. No, it was the blaring alarm that finally got your sleeping form to do more than cover your face with a sweatshirt. (It was Pidge’s. You may or may not have grabbed it on your way out of the castle. Shut up.)

You rubbed your eyes and yawned as if this wasn't a moment of impending doom. You stumbled to the front of the ship, shutting off the alarms and checking out your status. 

Well, really all you had to do is look outside and see the _freaking_ spaceship pulling you in, but no. Your body _drooped_ with exhaustion. You went the long way. You pressed the damn buttons.

It took several minutes for you to realize that you were in a tractor beam. At that point, it was too late for you to do anything but examine the ship and prepare for the worst.

The ship didn’t look Galra, but it was definitely built for battle. Where Galran ships were sharp edges and harsh angles, this ship was almost… bubbly. It was definitely well-used. There were various patches and scrapes on the ship that you could make out. The outside was covered in a hodge-podge assortment of paints, ranging from a dazzling blue to a bright-sunny yellow.

You rummaged around the pod, grabbing and eating a quick ration before settling yourself in a corner of the ship. Your swords were tucked in beside you. Your plan A was to stay hidden and sneak off the ship as early as possible. Plan B was… well. You were hoping to stick with plan A.

You sat alone in your corner before feeling the pod settle on the floor. You heard the doors open and was immediately greeted with annoyed mumbling. 

“Go inspect the ancient Altean pod, Yolark,” a large, yellow alien mumbled, “See if any of the _esteemed_ paladins require our assistance, Yolark. Why don’t you lick their boots and make them a consumable, Yolark.” Yolark grumbled as he poked around the pod, opening things at random and kicking at trash.

“There’s nothing here!” Yolark called outside of the pod. He continued mumbling and stuck something in his pocket. You were almost in the clear until… you sneezed.

You couldn’t just _hold_ it in! That’s how you burst a blood vessel _in your brain_.

...upon further reasoning, you realize that you might burst a little more than a blood vessel after this.

“Who’s there?” Yolark questioned. He passed your hiding spot once more, giving everything a good once over. 

And then you sneezed again.

Honestly, curse the gods above and their cruel tricks.

Yolark’s (quite frankly, large) head came face to face with yours. His eyes widened in shock before you kicked him in the gut, grabbed his head, and slammed it against the wall. He crumpled against the ground, hopefully unconscious. 

You approached the doors of the pod, crouching around a corner and holding your breath.

“Yolark?” a green-skinned female approached the pod, called forth from the sound of Yolark getting murked. She, like an idiot, walked straight into the pod, her back exposed to you.

You almost felt…. _bad_ attacking her like this, but the heavens above know you’ve abandoned your morals before.

As soon as you started to swing at her, you found yourself with a hand to your chest and three (very sharp) knives pointed at your face. 

“Well… this is hot.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pidge was… a tad bit better.

That’s a lie. 

Pidge was still a mess of feelings. Lance only looked upon her with sympathy and Hunk just… he was pretty silent about the whole thing. Halfway to trying to say something and yet at the last moment, the words seeming to have left. The increased amount of baked goods was a sign he was trying, though.

Keith, surprisingly, pulled through a little. He was excellent to rant at or throw punches with or just to sit in silence. He surprisingly had a lot to rant about, too. Something about how it was just _so_ unfair that certain someone had dazzling blue eyes and how he was increasingly worried when dark bags started to form under them lately. 

(Pidge were definitely cashing in on some bets soon.)

Pidge knew Shiro and Allura were going a little easier on her too and she _hated_ it. It wasn’t their fault! It was none of their faults! Pidge was the one who let (y/n) in and _told_ her things and _freaking trusted her_ and--

Pidge finally looked at the wall. During her meltdown, she was blasting her tazer at the wall and kinda… left a huge mark. Pidge threw the tazer down, grabbed a stray piece of sheet metal, and ran to the wall to cover it up. 

(She was hoping she could pass it off as bad modern art detailing the stresses of a teenager who had no business being in space.)

Pidge brushed her hand across the scorch marks in an attempt to rub off the discoloration when a… piece of metal fell off? She was about ready to chuck it and forget it until she took a closer look. It was definitely _not_ Atlean tech. Pidge was...decently(?) sure that she hadn’t added anything to the walls. It wasn’t until she saw the small antenna and camera lens that she knew was it was.

Motherfuckin’ Galra spyware.

“Shiro you dense--”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last time two chapters are posted on the same day. Realize that. Appreciate it. Cause I appreciate yall. (And writing is haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard.)


	12. The Result of Bashed In Heads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (y/n)=Your name. Yep. Never changes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, look at me updating within a month.

As it turns out, hitting on the alien lady who has several knives to your throat is not a good idea. Especially after knocking out her crewmate. 

Sometimes, as it turns out, it causes you to get completely knocked out, dragged across to the holding cells, and latched onto the wall. You woke up half-delirious and really confused as to why you were hanging by your wrists. 

You were really starting to see a pattern as of late.

“So, you’re awake?” a gruff voice asked from the corner. You turned your head and saw Yolark standing outside the cell with a considerable bruise on the side of his head. You almost felt bad. 

“Sadly,” you grunted. You shifted your wrists in the cuffs and winced slightly. Damn them for putting the cuffs on so tight. You surveyed the room and saw it only had a bucket, a ratty blanket, and some other alien in the corner. “Sorry about… your head.”

“I’m used to it from Galra scum like you.” This made you pause.

“I am _very_ much a human, thank you. There isn’t a drop of purple on this skin,” you said. If your arms were free, you have gestured to your body. Instead, you moved your hands again out of habit and winced again at the pain. There was no way you wouldn’t get scars from these _damn cuffs_.

“All those who ally with the Galra are the same in my eyes,” Yolark said. He crossed his arms, almost daring you to speak. Of course, you did.

“Ally with the Galra? They held me in their prisons for _months_. They took me from everything I knew and got me into this hellhole,” you said. You felt your arms tensing in anger and hurting in protest. The other alien in the room stirred and started to take notice at your conversation. “They ripped everything they could out of me.”

“If that’s true,” he started, flinging your swords on the ground in a metallic clang, “Why do you have Galra weapons?”

“I stole them after I led my prisoners to escape.” 

He paused for a second. “How’d you do that?” 

“I smuggled them after the gladiator fights I was forced into,” you said bluntly. You never told the paladins about this, but you have no reason to hide now.

“So you’re a killer?” Yolark asked. You paused again at this, remembering all you had to do to just live one more day.

“I’m what I have to be. As much as I have a death wish, it wasn’t gonna happen by their hands,” you said, slightly defeated. That, as far as you knew, was true. You wondered how long it had been.

Yolark paused his questions for a moment, seeming to think things over. You felt your “roommate” stare at you while you tried not to do the same. They were in ratty clothes, probably prison garb, and had sunken eyes to match their gaunt face. You could tell that they were once very muscular, but prison life wore that down. Their powder blue skin was covered in dirt and grime. You wondered how you would fair here if they were looking so bad. 

“If you’re really a prison escapee, what were you doing in an Altean pod?” Yolark asked, finally. You tensed slightly.

“Voltron rescued me after I escaped prison. I was a little worse for wear after getting stabbed.” You tried to keep your voice steady. You could do this. You never did anything wrong.

“Why’d they send you away?” 

Wow, okay. Right for the groin. “We--um, got into a disagreement.” Your voice cracked at the end of the sentence. Curse the gods above and their endless games.

“What about?” Yolar asked. He leaned in slightly. This was an alien who knew something was up. And he was right.

_I seduced one of the paladins and right as we were making out, the other paladins confronted me about a conspiracy plot and I kicked their asses before running away. I made a horrible mistake and went right to fighting before I could start to explain anything._ “That’s personal, bro.”

Yolark sighed. He was about to ask you another question before he was called off to another part of the ship. 

“This,” he stuck a finger in the air, “continues later.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” you said, giving your best smile. “Hey, can you unlock these restraints? It kinda...hurts.”

“So does my head,” Yolark said, marching off.

You really wanted to go home. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Pidge, really, you need to calm down,” Lance pleaded. Pidge turned and glared him down, causing him to step back and hide behind Keith. “Or not, murderous rampages are fine.”

“Pidge, please, violence will not fix anything,” Shiro pleaded. Pidge’s glare turned upon him and Shiro went white and took a step back. “Allura, please.”

The scene was the control room. Pidge was fuming red about The Situation and the rest of Team Voltron was attempting to calm her down. 

“We were just trying to protect Voltron and all of our safety. We would have come after (y/n) if we knew what we know now,” Allura said. She held her hands in front of her chest as if Pidge might launch herself at her.

“And look what good that did!” Pidge flung her arms her arms out. “We cast out a _friend_ , an invaluable _ally_ , a _victim_ of the Galra, my--” Pidge choked, tears starting to fall down her face. “My…”

Keith guided Pidge out, letting her sob into his shirt and cling onto him. He guided the pair to the floor and held her tightly.

“We--we betrayed her,” Pidge said through the hiccups, “I accused her and said all those mean things and jumped to conclusions and told her to leave and--”

“Hey, calm down, you’re spiraling,” Keith said. He ran his fingers through Pidge’s hair. “We _all_ jumped to conclusions. None of us listened to (y/n), but we can still get her back.”

Pidge sniffled, wiping her eyes. “How? She took a pod and got the fuck away.” Keith smiled at her.

“Are you telling me that the gremlin didn’t put a tracker in all of the pods on day three?”

Pidge froze in his arms, suddenly jumping up and dragging Keith along with her. 

“Keith, you brilliant emo!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when your own beta roasts you asdljfhaksjdfhlaskdjf


	13. The Alarm and the Roomate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (y/n)=Your name. Good? Cool.
> 
> (y/n) learns that it really do be like that sometimes.

About ten minutes after Yolark left, an alarm started going off, causing you to groan out loud. Your roommate remained curled back into their corner, pretending to sleep. 

“Yolark? Is everything okay?” you yelled into the empty hall. You took a deep breath and tried again. “Yolark? Yolark! This alarm is not doing anything for my head. Or my wrists, really. Do you think you could fix that?”

You heard your roommate stir in the corner. They were definitely sick of your yelling overtop the already annoying alarms. Really, that blaring was _no_ help. The people who were trying to get rid of the problem it signified probably had their eardrums blown out before it was ever resolved. 

You had half a mind to yell that along with your (very creative) array of “Yolark, dude” and various curses before your roommate interrupted you. They got up and walked towards you with murder in their eyes.

“Quiznack, do you ever--”

Funny enough, they were interrupted by the ship _jolting very hard_ and spasming for a few minutes afterward. Not funny enough, your roommate fell on and used you as a handhold as to not get thrown around like a sock monkey. 

Your wrists were _screaming._

You had half a mind to harass Lance for something to help them, but then you remembered the unfortunate truth. This whole “being falsely accused and having to fight everyone” thing was getting old. 

You were snapped out of your thoughts when your roommate (God, you needed to figure out their name) started muttering and poking at your wrists. No, not your wrists, your restraints.

“These rebels and their allies and so stupid, why did I ever leave home? Why was space travel my dream? Why--” 

“Hey, are you okay?” you asked. They just looked at you like you killed their space puppy. They just blinked and went back to tinkering.

“You know, it’s not considered polite to interrupt the person trying to free you,” they said. Okay, that had you stumped.

“Why, exactly, are you trying to free me?” you asked. They got one of your wrists free and start to work on the other one. You shook your free hand out, trying to get some blood flow back to it. 

Stupid Yolark. 

“You’re annoying,” they said. Ouch. They freed your other hand and handed you a key, presumably for the cell door. 

“And,” they started, “It seems like you’re eager to get yourself blown up. Might as well join the battle outside.”

“There’s a battle?”

They stared at you for a second. “Do the ships you ride on _normally_ tremor for minutes on end?”

“Got me there.” You took the key and opened the door. You took a step outside the cell and looked back. Your roommate was still standing in the same place. “Coming?”

“No,” they said. They sighed at your confusion. “Not everyone wants back in the war, you know.”

You nodded, closing the door and handing back the key. “Thank you.”

“No problem, now leave! You’re interrupting my scheduled _alone time_ ,” they said. They turned around and sat back in their corner, resting their head against the wall. 

As you run down the (worryingly) barren hallways, you realize you never got their name. You figure you’ll just have to get it if you get caught.

But in reality, you’re done getting caught. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Pidge, are you sure your calculations are correct?” Shiro asked. All the paladins were gathered control room as the castle approached Aeirst in the middle of a huge battle. “How could (y/n) get wrapped up in this?”

“Have you met the girl?” Lance asked, “She _literally_ knocked me flat on my back within seconds of meeting us. I wouldn’t doubt it if you told me she started blowing up Galra cruisers again.”

“Whatever the case is, this isn’t going to be an easy extraction mission,” Allura said, “We’re going to have to put an end to this battle before we can even think of finding (y/n).”

Pidge muttered something which caused Keith to elbow her. He picked up his helmet turned to face the team.

“Alright guys, let’s head to the lions. Do not attack until you are absolutely sure your target is Galran. Aeirst is very heavily trafficked by all sides of the war. We don’t want to hurt any potential allies.” Keith motioned for the paladins to leave, but stopped Pidge as she passed by him. 

“Are you sure you’re up to this? It doesn’t seem like you’re still in the right head-space. There’s no shame in helping out in the Castle instead of in your lion.” Keith spoke softly, as to avoid setting her off. 

“No, I’m--” Pidge moved her hands through the air “--I’m not the best person to be out there, but we’re in this battle because of me. I should-- I _want_ to be out there.”

“As long as you’re sure,” Keith said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She smiled up at him.

“Yeah. Now let’s go kick some Galra ass.”

“Language!”

“Shut up, _Dad_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I really have to get better at uploading at reasonable times. Or like, completely writing a fic out before I post it.
> 
> Hmm, whelp. 
> 
> Sorry.
> 
> Also, (side note) I've been wanting to start writing fics for the show "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power" (specifically Catra/Adora) and I was wondering was there was anything in particular yall wanted to see with that?
> 
> No? Yes? Let me know!


	14. The Battle Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (y/n) escapes the rebel ship, only to be in, yet again, another battle.
> 
> Pidge and the rest of Team Voltron devise a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who has a charger again!

It seemed to bring up a lot of repressed memories as you tore through the ship like a maniac, gathering up all your things. You’ve _really_ gotta stop doing this.

In your travels, you managed to find your swords and a few ration bars to tide you over. You also donned some armor you found lying around, because why not protect your vital organs for once. (Even if that protection means ripping Pidge’s sweatshirt. Goddammit aliens.)

You travel through the ship, trying to come up with a plan before you stumble onto the hangar. All the life and commotion seemed centered in this one area of the ship. People were loading up into fighters and putting on armor left and right. Your old friend, the Altean pod, was left in its corner and devoid of life.

You, for a brief second, considered taking it but realized it was useless without fuel and guns. Duh. It was, however, useful for you to crouch behind while getting a better look at the hangar. And so, you spotted an opening.

“Fuck it,” you said. You bolted along the edges of the hangar to one of the fighters. It was seconds away from taking off, but you kept running regardless. Right as the canopy was closing, you jumped into the seat.

“Hello there,” you said, looking down at the mortified alien. You didn’t know if their skin was white from fear or if that was just their natural complexion. With a few deft clicks, you unleashed their harness and proceeded to throw them out of their seat.

“Goodbye! And sorry!” you called out. The canopy closed the second you put on the harness and within moments you were flying into the expanse of space.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is nothing that can describe the euphoria of piloting something _really fucking fast_. That adrenaline rush was what captivated you every time you took the pilot’s seat.

Do you know what ruins that?

War.

Right after the launch, you were thrown into the battle. Thousands of Galra fighters littered the battlefield. There were battleships on every corner and more rebel ships than you’ve ever seen at once. Just by turning your head you could see more ships getting decimated

Flying is this beautiful thing, but to use it to kill and destroy? That was a little more than you could handle at times. Even if it was against those who forced you to kill all those innocents for mere entertainment.

But, you stuck it through. You wove through the battle, picking off stragglers and hitting the battleships when you could. (And taking a little more hits than you would have liked).

When the Galra fighters started to clear out, you looked around in confusion. The battle was far from over, why would they give up their gained ground? Unless…

You looked up at the nearby battleship. Mounted on the top was an ion cannon, pointed directly at the bubbly rebel cruiser you just came from.

“Fucking hell.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon arrival, Team Voltron was immediately thrown into battle. To say that they had a hard time was an understatement.

The area around Aeirst was concentrated with ships, both friendly and unfriendly alike. If it wasn’t already difficult weaving through the constant barrage of lasers, it was nearly impossible to get a shot in without hitting an ally.

If it wasn’t for (y/n), Team Voltron wouldn’t even be in this fight. Pidge knew that. She almost started to feel bad for dragging her team into this.

“What’s the status on (y/n)?” Keith asked. Pidge heard a groan from Keith as he was hit by oncoming fire.

“Nothing, yet, but it’s a little hard to track someone in the _middle of a battle_ ,” Pidge said. She swung Green around, barely missing the wing of one of the rebel fighters. She swore and shot at a Galra fighter coming in behind Blue. Allura reciprocated not a few moments after.

“Pidge, you might want to head back to the castle to focus on finding her, this battle is a little out of Voltron’s depth,” Shiro said.

“Aren’t we supposed to be able to end battles like these? Like isn’t that the sole purpose of Voltron?” Lance asked. He and Red doubled back, drawing in some Galra fighters into Yellow’s range. Pidge was seconds away from assisting before she felt Green paw at the back of her mind.

“I’m just saying we may be biting off a little more than we can chew here,” Shiro said. Allura hummed in agreement.

“Well, you’re not the one in battle, so,” Lance said. Green was frozen at this point, waiting for Pidge to let her in before firing any more shots.

“ _Lance_ ,” Keith warned.

“Guys,” Pidge interrupted, “I think Green is trying to tell me something.” The coms went silent and Pidge tried to concentrate on her bond with Green. Pidge’s mind was overloaded with pictures and data and numbers before the message was clear.

“(y/n) is here,” Pidge gasped, “And she’s in trouble.”

“Naturally,” Lance said.

“No, _bad_ trouble. One of the Galra battleships has an ion cannon that is gearing up to decimate the rebel fighters. We need to get that cannon disabled or we may be losing a lot of allies very soon,” Pidge said.

“I’ll try to get in contact with this faction’s leader and see if we can warn them ahead of time,” Coran said.

“Okay, Lance, Pidge, and I will move to disable the cannon. Allura and Hunk, see if you can damage it from the outside,” Keith ordered. Affirmative grunts were heard from the coms.

“You’ll see her soon,” Green seemed to mutter in the back of Pidge's mind, but it was all forgotten as Pidge launched into the plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, sorry for that long wait. I've been awaiting the new charger with bated breath ever since my other one broke. I can't stand typing on my phone and it's not the best idea for me to be typing this on a school laptop. (Though, that would be hilarious.)
> 
> After my school musical is over, yall shall receive way more content. Just tell me what you want!


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